"If I cannot listen to the subtle manifestation of rich reality in my environment, I will necessarily try to impose my wilful codes on others. If I am not open to reality and do not obey the voice of reality, a terrible distortion takes place. Sooner or later I will turn the whole relationship around: Instead of listening to reality in people and events, I become convinced that reality in people and events should listen to me."

News

How beauty is the true goal of leadership

“The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with joy are goodness, beauty, and truth.” ~ Albert Einstein

At a leadership seminar that I recently ran for senior students from twelve schools, one of the more intriguing conversations I became engaged in was with an obviously sincere young Muslim man. He told me that in a discussion with his peers on the essential objective of leadership, he had provoked bewilderment, and not a little laughter, by suggesting that it was beauty.

Seamus Heaney: ‘Walk on air against your better judgement’

On 30 August 2013, news of the death of Nobel Prize-winning poet, Seamus Heaney, was met with sorrow around the world. He was universally admired for his kindness as well as for his poems, which ‘gaze into the reality of the world and see its mystery’. On National Poetry Day, Edel McClean pays tribute to the life and work of a man whose death, according to his fellow poet, Don Paterson, ‘seems to have left a breach in the language itself’. Read more

Review: God Is No Thing (Rupert Shortt)

An excellent response to New Atheism

Some high-profile atheists insist on arguing against propositions that no serious Christian writer would endorse. This (book) is a spirited corrective, argues Rowan Williams, covering the origins of the universe to the use of the Bible.

In one of his letters, CS Lewis repeats the story of an earnest atheistical school teacher instructing her young charges that all forms of animal life derived from the higher apes, under the impression that she was teaching them Darwinism. The anecdote is probably too good to be true, but it is a reminder that in any decently reasonable argument it helps to know what exactly it is that is being attacked or defended. Read more

Spiritual Pilgrimage to India (2018)

Information evening 6pm, 12 September 2017

Marie Fonseca (Spice Odyssey) is organising her 6th Christian spiritual pilgrimage to India “One Heart and One Soul” from February 19 – March 10, 2018. The highlight of this pilgrimage will be a four night meditation/yoga retreat with daily mass led by Fr. Joe Pereira (Mumbai), in Goa. The pilgrimage also includes attending a Mass at St. Teresa of Kolkata’s Tomb and visits to some of her homes.

Breaking the family legacy of silence over the Third Reich

Nearly 70 years after being executed as a war criminal, the memory of Third Reich ambassador to Slovakia, Hanns Ludin, continues to weigh on his descendants. His granddaughter Alexandra Senfft has broken the family silence.

The room at the Literaturhaus Foundation in Munich, the prosperous Bavarian capital, is packed for a debate hosted by the Institut für Zeitgeschichte.The institute was founded in 1940 to promote research on the National-Socialist dictatorship with respect to the memory of Germany’s Nazi past contained in family histories.

The fear conundrum

How much fear do we want? Enough of it preserves our lives. Too much of it diminishes our lives. Currently, the balance is skewed by an overload of fear. Anxiety, its clinical name, is in epidemic proportions.

In favour of the measure to monitor social networks, it can be argued that it can significantly improve security agencies’ ability to deal with terrorist organizations. The claim is that intelligence agencies that monitor the networks, in many cases, can protect their territory from terrorist attacks. For instance, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), ... Read more

Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A surprising ecumenism

In God We Trust. This phrase is printed on the banknotes of the United States of America and is the current national motto. It appeared for the first time on a coin in 1864 but did not become official until Congress passed a motion in 1956. A motto is important for a nation whose foundation was rooted in religious motivations. For many it is a simple declaration of faith. For others, it is the synthesis of a problematic fusion between religion and state, faith and politics, religious values and economy. Read more

Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Sacred Monstrosity’

Flannery O’Connor, who died on 3 August 1964, was a celebrated but divisive author whose stories are notorious for both their violence and their religiosity. Can her work speak to modern readers, or is it necessarily of her time? Michael Kirwan SJ considers this question, with a little help from James Joyce, René Girard and Quentin Tarantino. Read more.

Was Luther an anti-Semite?

Commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation have revived a controversy over anti-semitic writings by Martin Luther. "La Croix" talks to an expert on the issue. Pierre-Olivier Léchot, dean of the Protestant Theology Faculty in Paris, a historian of Christianity in the modern era, unravels a polemic over the vehemently anti-Jewish texts written by Luther, which has resurfaced during the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

La Croix: Over the last few weeks, we have witnessed a revival of the polemic over Luther’s alleged “anti-semitism” based on the image of a sow, representing Judaism, on bas-reliefs on a church in Wittenberg. Read more

Finding the high way

Andrew Hamilton

In our society ethical questions such as those to do with marriage, crime and punishment, the beginnings and endings of life and freedom of speech are often 'highway' issues. Protagonists establish in advance the right way to go, keep their foot down and their eyes on the road without noticing the terrain the highway traverses. Road signs indicating other destinations or alternative routes are ignored and towns by-passed. Certainty is gained; understanding of country is sacrificed.

Ethical reflection can also be done by taking the tourist route, preferably by bicycle. Read more

Pope Francis has appointed an Italian biblical scholar, Monsignor Giacomo Morandi, 51, as secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and made him archbishop. The Vatican made this announcement today, July 18. In less than three weeks, Pope Francis has reshuffled the top leadership of the C.D.F. by not renewing the mandate of Cardinal Gerhard Müller (which expired on July 2) and by promoting the number two and number three officials up one position, thereby ensuring that the C.D.F.’s most senior officials are now rowing with him. Read more

Review: Tracey Rowland’s ‘Catholic Theology’

Tom Ryan SM

Tracey Rowland, an Australian theologian, is a current member of the International Theological Commission (ITQ). Her latest book aims to a) outline the basic principles in any approach to Catholic theology (Ch. 1) and b) explain four dominant approaches (or ‘schools’) in ‘doing’ Catholic theology today and their respective historical backgrounds (Chapters 2-5). Her goal is to offer guideposts for seminarians (and the interested reader) to make sense of theological developments since Vatican 2.

Francis makes clear his mission as pope is far from ended

Pope Francis made it clear this morning that he believes his mission as successor to St. Peter and leader of the Catholic world is far from over. The message can be read as an answer to those who hope his pontificate may end soon. He said that his mission entails being able “to dream” and to share this dream and experience of life with young people today so that they may live prophetic lives.He spoke in a homily at Mass on June 27 as he celebrated the anniversary of his ordination as bishop in Buenos Aires 25 years ago today. Read more

Le Vent de L’Esprit

The great feast that concludes the Easter season, Pentecost, can only be properly understood against the horizon of the Trinity, which we celebrate a week later, says Professor Peter Tyler. ‘The descent of the Spirit reminds us of our essential Trinitarian nature: rooted in Christ we look both to the Father in Heaven as well as to our fellow suffering humans on earth.’Suddenly from Heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the entire house. (Acts 2:2)Thoughts from IndiaI have been thinking a lot about the Holy Spirit over these past few weeks. Read more

Course: The Catholic Church and Democratic Society I

Starts Wednesday 8 MarchPresenter Robert Gascoigne

This module will consider the relationships between the Catholic Church and democratic society in the modern period. Using both a historical and theological approach, it will reflect on the ways in which the Church has responded to, and influenced, political and social movements since the French revolution up to the present day, and how the development of democratic societies has affected the Church’s own life. It will have four main foci: Read more ...

Reflections on the Feast of the Ascension

The Feast of the Ascension strikes many Christians as the poor relative of the two rather bigger celebrations which top and tail the long and joyful season of Eastertide: Easter itself, and Pentecost. But Damian Howard SJ ascribes to this feast the utmost significance. What are we to make of the story of Jesus being taken up into a cloud, an episode that not only sounds like mythology but also violates our modern sense of space? Read more

Gonski in an age of budget repair

School funding is a very complex issue in Australia. It's now a poisonous political cocktail.David Gonski, who had been the poster boy for Julia Gillard's bold education reforms, has now been showcased by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Education Minister Simon Birmingham announcing their new deal for school funding.The National Catholic Education Commission, the Australian Catholic Primary Principals Association, and the Catholic Secondary Principals Association are upset with the proposed funding arrangements. Read more

Conference: Awakening the Sacred 2017

Awakening the Sacred through Literature and the ArtsFriday 7 July - Saturday 8 July 2017Australian Catholic University

Awakening the Sacred is the fifth in a series of conferences presented by The Sacred in Literature and the Arts (SLA), a community of interest that brings Australian and international writers, artists, musicians, academics, religious and members of the general public together to explore the interplay between the arts and the sacred. More information here.

The Nuremberg Prosecutor

Why the only future worth building includes everyone

A single individual is enough for hope to exist, and that individual can be you, says His Holiness Pope Francis in this searing TED Talk delivered directly from Vatican City. In a hopeful message to people of all faiths, to those who have power as well as those who don't, the spiritual leader provides illuminating commentary on the world as we currently find it and calls for equality, solidarity and tenderness to prevail. "Let us help each other, all together, to remember that the 'other' is not a statistic, or a number," he says. "We all need each other." Watch TED Talk